THE NEW YORK TIMES: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that the U.S. military could escalate the war “if necessary.” An Iranian official raised the prospect of increasing nuclear enrichment if it were attacked again.
A month-old cease-fire in Iran looked increasingly fragile on Tuesday as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the United States had “a plan to escalate, if necessary,” a day after President Trump dismissed an Iranian proposal to end the war as “garbage.”
Mr. Hesgeth, speaking at a congressional hearing on the Pentagon’s budget request, said the U.S. military had several options in the Middle East, including pulling back or shifting assets, but he declined to describe the administration’s next step.
Iran’s state-owned broadcaster reported on Monday that Tehran’s demands to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz included U.S. war reparations, recognition of its sovereignty over the strait and an end to American sanctions. Hours later, Mr. Trump said in the Oval Office that Tehran was in the grip of “lunatics.”
Mr. Trump has said that he wants a swift end to the war and a reopening of the strait, but Iran appears to be testing how far he is willing to go to secure those goals. Its demands suggest it could be betting that the economic pain from soaring energy prices will force him to make concessions.
Iran’s demands for reparations and sovereignty over the strait would almost certainly be non-starters for the United States. Ending sanctions, meanwhile, would be possible for the Trump administration only if Iran were willing to make major concessions on its nuclear program.
Ebrahim Rezaei, a spokesman for the national security committee in Iran’s Parliament, warned Tuesday that Tehran could consider enriching uranium to 90 percent purity, a level considered weapons grade, if it was attacked again. It was unclear how seriously Iran was considering such a move, and Mr. Rezaei said only that Parliament could review the option. Iran War Live Updates » | Euan Ward and Megan Mineiro | Tuesday, May 12, 2026
